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Officials demand daily monitoring after Potomic spill
Maryland leaders are calling for daily monitoring after a sewage spill into the Potomac River now threatens the Chesapeake Bay.
WASHINGTON - Leaders in Maryland are hearing from officials about ongoing efforts to clean up what’s being described as the largest sewage spill in U.S. history.
What they're saying:
They’re calling for daily monitoring as the Potomac River spill now threatens the Chesapeake Bay.
This afternoon’s briefing on the Potomac interceptor rupture made clear there is still a long way to go in what officials are calling an ecological disaster. The Potomac interceptor serves 376 square miles, serving more than half a million people.
Stakeholders from several agencies, including DC Water, weighed in — saying the sewage spill is not only polluting the Potomac River but also threatening the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding environment.
Officials say until recently, conditions were difficult — with ice, below-freezing temperatures and challenging weather as crews worked to mitigate the aftermath of the sewage spill.
At this afternoon’s briefing, DC Water addressed the issue and reminded residents how they can help.
"What we are doing right now is we are constructing bulkhead near 495. We are adding additional pumping capacity — adding 100 million gallons a day," said Matt Brown, COO of DC Water. He also says that flushable wipes are causing issues with their pumps.
Committee members said this is a DC Water issue, not a Maryland-based water or sewage issue.
DC Water CEO David L. Gadis said in a letter earlier this week that "protecting is not the responsibility of any one organization alone. It is a shared obligation."
Timeline:
The break occurred on January 19.
Officials say area agencies became aware immediately from security camera footage showing movement on site and signs of overflow and collapse.
By January 20, mitigation was reportedly underway.
On February 8, D.C. Water said it experienced an overflow incident, with 600,000 gallons of raw sewage pouring into the river after two of their pumps, used to prevent sewage from getting inside, became clogged by an accumulation of non-disposable wipes.